The shark victim got aid on the Bellows beach. In blue trunks on the far left is a man named Ray who helped get the victim to shore.

A sign at Lanikai Beach warned that the shark might still be prowling offshore.

A shark attacked a man snorkeling off the military-only side of Bellows Beach yesterday, causing a serious leg wound and prompting officials to close beaches from Lanikai to Waimanalo.

Beachgoers later reported seeing a shark attack at least two sea turtles off Bellows and Lanikai, killing one of the turtles.

Two men who were at the beach helped pull the snorkeler from the water about 3:15 p.m. and fashioned a tourniquet above his left calf to slow the bleeding.

"The guy was talking the whole time, even while we were pulling him into shore" said Don Ewing, part of a civil engineering crew working at Bellows. "He was thanking us and saying, 'I hope I don't lose my leg.' "

The man said he punched the shark in the snout, Ewing noted.

The victim, a 36-year-old Mainland visitor, was taken to The Queen's Medical Center in serious but stable condition with a severe bite wound to his left leg below the knee, said city emergency services spokesman Bryan Cheplic.

Witnesses described the shark as an 8-foot tiger shark, but authorities at the scene said that had not been confirmed.

RESCUERS WADE IN

City lifeguards closed Windward beaches from Sherwood Forest near Waimanalo Beach Park to the Kailua boat ramp, fire department spokesman Capt. Terry Seelig said. He said shark warning signs were posted and that the beaches would remain closed at least through this morning.

It was the first reported shark attack off O'ahu in 16 months. On March 23, 2006, a Vancouver, B.C., woman survived a shark's bite to her left calf while surfing at Left Overs, a surf spot a mile south of Waimea Bay.

The most recent shark attack in the state was May 7, when a Marin County, Calif., woman survived a shark bite to her right calf and foot while snorkeling at Keawakapu Beach in Kihei, Maui.

Yesterday's attacked happened about 150 yards offshore, near the rocky point that separates Bellows from Lanikai.

The man and his wife were staying at one of the bungalows on the military side of Bellows Beach.

Ewing said that about 3:15 p.m. he heard someone yelling, "Help!" and "Shark!" offshore, and noticed another man from shore making his way through the water toward the victim. Ewing said he removed his steel-toed boots and waded in to assist. He and the other man — who he knows only as Ray — were able to bring the injured man to the beach, Ewing said.

Ewing, 56, credited Ray with saving the snorkeler's life.

"He (the victim) could have been in very serious trouble if that guy hadn't got out there when he did," Ewing said. Ewing fashioned a tourniquet around the victim's leg with a nylon strap someone brought down to the water. Cheplic said the bleeding was stabilized by the time emergency personnel got there.

"I held a tourniquet on his leg above the knee for at least 15 minutes," he said. Ewing said he was eventually relieved by a firefighter.

"From the knee on down, the guy's leg was pretty chewed up. I'd say there were four to five lacerations. ... The cuts were deep. There were places where it looked like they were to the bone," Ewing said.

BEACHES CLOSED

The victim told Ewing he had been snorkeling and observing the sea life right before the attack. Suddenly, he said, fish zipped away in all directions and a 6- to 8-foot shark came at him.

There was nothing he could do to prevent the shark from striking, the man told Ewing — although he said he did manage to punch the shark in the nose more than once.

While paramedics tended to the victim, the fire department's Air One helicopter was in the air and a rescue company moved up and down the shore in a boat warning swimmers to leave the water and advising bathers that the beach was closed.

Cheplic urged residents and visitors not to use the waters off Lanikai Beach this morning.

"We will be there first thing to do an early morning assessment at 5 a.m.," he said. "Ocean Safety and Lifeguard Division will be patrolling the beach, and we would greatly appreciate it if people would please refrain from swimming there until after our assessment is done."

SYLVANIA, Ohio — An Ohio attorney who was attacked by a shark while he was on a vacation in 2007 told his story of survival to 10TV News.

Harvey Miller

harvey_miller_1.jpg (24.19 KiB) Viewed 6986 times

Harvey Miller's story made national headlines.

The husband and father of four was snorkeling on Oahu, Hawaii, when he was attacked by a tiger shark. The attack was the first in the area in almost 50 years.

Here is how Miller described the attack to 10TV News:

"We were in Hawaii, July 17, 2007, so that date will stick in my mind forever"

"It was just like any other day got up early, went for a walk on the beach with my wife. Later, my father-in-law and I went to play golf. Who knew at this point, I'm going to play golf, it's a great vacation that six hours later I'm in the hospital."

SLIDESHOW: Images From Report (Editor's Note: Some Images May Be Disturbing)

"I went to an area where the sea turtles, or where I was told, the sea turtles were. They're very beautiful and majestic animals to watch. Little did I know, sharks eat turtles, so I was swimming in the dining room."

"Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the jaws of the shark coming right at me. In that same instant I felt it lifting me out of the water -- then the body of the shark -- I was almost laying across it. My upper body was out of the water and the body and the dorsal fin were right here (points). I punched it a few times and then it was gone."

"After the shark was gone and I tried to swim, I couldn't kick my leg, so it was at that point I knew that I'd been bitten, because I didn't even feel it initially."

"It seemed like forever, (I) wasn't making any progress getting in, and it was getting pretty troubling and scary. Everything I've ever been told about sharks is that they don't give up. They come back, so the whole time I'm swimming I'm waiting for it to bite me again."

I'll never forget, I brought my head up out of the water and to yell for help again, and heard someone off from a different direction say, 'I'm here,' and he was just 10-12 feet away so we turned and started swimming toward each other."

"The shark that attacked me, they estimate to be about 10 feet. Even with the bite on my kneecap, it didn't really do any damage to the patella, to the internal part of the knee. I was really very fortunate."

"My surgeon, Dr. Murray, put it all back together. This was the first time I had gotten out of bed after surgery. I've never been so sick in my entire life."

"(My) biggest fear with my son was not being able to play basketball with him. Doc thinks I'll be able to do that. You know, (I'm) going through it, I was always determined. I mean, this is not going to get in the way of anything. I'm going to play golf, I'm going to play basketball, and I'm going to do what I want to do."

"I'm training for a 10K run at the end of June. I run two or three times a week and I'm just amazed that I can, I can actually run!"

"I have four children. I think as a family we really appreciate more the little things we have together now. I went to breakfast with my 9-year-old this morning to school. I wouldn't have been here for that, teaching my older daughter how to drive, well, trying to teach her how to drive, you know, I could have missed all of that."

"It's been a change in perspective, that life is short, and precious."

Editor's Note: The shark that attacked Miller was never found. Since the incident, he has continued to snorkel on other family vacations.